Set list
- Girl From Mars
- Meltdown
- Orpheus
- A Life Less Ordinary
- Evil Eye
- Clones
- Walking Barefoot
- Starcrossed
- Out of the Blue
- Shining Light
- Renegade Cavalcade
- Detonator
- Goldfinger
- On a Wave
- Won’t Be Saved
- Envy
- Vampire Love
Encore
Review 1
With Pancake Day and Ash Wednesday earlier in the week, It seems fitting that this day be known as Ash Sunday. As the bill just stated ’Ash plus special guests.’
I see from the merchandise on offer that tonight’s support is going to be courtesy of a band called Winnebago Deal. Being unfamiliar with the name I asked the guy selling T-shirts to enlighten me and I’m informed that “They’re a two piece band, drums and guitar.” . So I meander off to the front to wait for a White Stripes gimmick band. However these assumptions seem quite misplaced as I watch the guitarist, sporting a Melvins T shirt, run on stage with Gibson Les Paul that has a hefty amount of gaffer tape holding the strap to the body.
As they roar into the first song I realise that the guitarist is actually playing a guitar amp and a bass amp at the same time. The sound is loud, saturated guitars with masses of bass end and causes any visions of the White stripes to disappear within the first bar of the first song. They sound very similar to bands from the early 90’s grunge scene in Seattle, bands such as The Melvin’ and Bleach era ’Nirvana’ both members of the band aggressively thrashing their Nirvana-era Dave Grohl length hair. Unfortunately every song sounds pretty much like the last and I find my long term patience being tested. In short, they rock, but lack variety.
Just when we expect Ash to appear on stage, Pigbag (the tune that Middlesbrough Football Club play when they come onto the field) plays and the crowd go mental, which is unsurprising as earlier in the day their home team had won the Carling Cup. Front man Tim Wheeler runs on stage with his trademark Gibson flying V. “I guess today’s a pretty good day to be in Middlesbrough then” he shouts before launching into “Girl From Mars”. And there the bouncing started.
The atmosphere was incredible, and so was the band. Playing a larger than expected amount of material from their new album including the new single “Clones” and a mix of one or two old songs the place is alive and full of people just having a great time.
Ash seem to have had quite a lot of experimentation on their older albums but these new tunes blend in seamlessly with classics like “Goldfinger”, and “A Life Less Ordinary”. “We’ve been in hibernation, working on our new record.” Says Tim. “We decided to come and to this tour to show you our new stuff, and now you’ve heard it we’re gonna reward you with some old stuff.”
The encore begins with Envy, and rocks its way through the classic “Petrol” with the night reaching a climactic high with “Burn Baby Burn” which makes the crowd bounce more than they had all night! I thought I knew what I was going to get when I was coming to see Ash, but I actually got a lot more than I thought I would,and judging by the songs I heard tonight, the new album is going to be well worth a listen.
Review by Chris Slasor
Review 2
Overall the night was a good one, with Ash playing songs from previous albums and their forthcoming album Meltdown, which is out in May.
Their previous stuff is less rocky and generally more mellow. Stuff on their new album is heavier and upbeat. Definitely one that will sell well and one that I will buy to add to my collection.
Tim, Charlotte, Rick and Mark gave it their all. Every song with its own introduction. Every song performed with such passion and enthusiasm. Every song with audience participation.
The fan favourite was “Burn Baby Burn”, because the audience including myself were screaming for them to play that as their last song and of course after a massive audience interactive build up they did. The night ended with the fans singing a section of “Burn Baby Burn”.
Review by Emma Cole